


Dreaming of You

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: And Misses, M/M, Sam Jumps to Conclusions, Shared Dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8130829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Every night, Sam has a dream.  That's normal.  Every night in his dreams, he sees his brother.  That's a little weird, but given how important Dean is to him, not a big deal.  Every night in his dreams, he lives a story where he falls in love with a man.  Okay, so he's a romantic.  It's always the same man, one he doesn't know.Until he spots the man having lunch in a coffee shop.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a prompt from DailyAU: "They say you can’t dream of someone you’ve never met but I’ve dreamt you for weeks now who are you?"  
> Link: http://dailyau.tumblr.com/post/146091830981/hey-i-saw-in-your-superhero-anon-thing-that-you

Sam stared across the coffee shop in shock. He’d never seen the blue-eyed man before, not in real life, but he’d seen him in his dreams every night for months. It was weird. They’d meet, fall in love over several nights, with or without misunderstandings along the way, and then repeat the cycle. Dream stories that would pause and pick up where they left off the next night.

The guy was sitting alone, with coffee and a sandwich. Once Sam was reasonably sure he wasn’t waiting for someone to join him, he made his way over. “Um, hi. Look, this is going to sound really weird…”

“You!” The guy looked up and he promptly fell off his chair. “You’re real!”

“So are you!” Sam offered him a hand up. “I’m Sam.”

“Castiel.” He pulled himself up with the offered hand, and awkwardly transitioned it into a handshake. “How are you real? Did I fall asleep at my desk or something? Michael is going to kill me…”

“No, you’re awake, I think. I’m awake. Or I am having a much weirder dream than usual, because I’ve never recognized you before while I was still dreaming.” Sam sat at the table, and Castiel joined him.

Castiel leaned forward, eyes practically glowing blue. “You have the dreams too? Where you’re a pirate and I’m a merchant whose ship you raid, or we’re spacemen who get stranded, or…”

“My personal favorite is the one where you’re an angel and I’m the demon-blooded abomination you save.” Castiel was real. His handsome dream man was real and sitting across the table from him.

Castiel laughed. “I would make a terrible angel.”

“I think that was kind of the point?” Sam shrugged. “What was your favorite, then?”

“I liked the one where you were a soldier and I was the helpless civilian you saved from the Nazis. Completely implausible but a lot of fun.” Castiel smiled. “Any idea what’s going on here? Because how are we dreaming together?”

“I have no idea.” This was not something Sam had ever considered a possibility for his dreams. “You know, now that I know you’re real and having the dreams, I should probably ask my brother if he is too. He’s in them, all of them. Some of the others are people I know, too, a lot of them I don’t recognize, but Dean’s the only one I think is always there.”

“I recognize a lot of them as well – my family and coworkers." Castiel chuckled a little. "In the dream where I was the angel who pulled you out of Hell, the part of Lucifer was played by my ex-boyfriend Nick. Excellent casting choice, the guy was a total assbutt.”

Sam let out a snort. “Michael was played by my half-brother Adam. And the guy you delivered me to, once I was free, that’s my real brother Dean.”

"I was wondering why I always see that guy." Castiel picked up his sandwich and took a bite. “Your real brother is hot.”

Sam’s heart stopped. This wasn’t possible. Not unless the gods had a very sick sense of humor. “I know. Everybody loves him.” But Castiel was supposed to be his, dammit. Just this once, Sam was supposed to be the one the handsome man fell for.

“You really think he might be having the dreams, too?” Castiel continued, as if he weren’t breaking Sam.

Sam took a deep breath so that he could speak normally. “I don’t know. He’s always in them. Everyone else comes and goes, but Dean’s always there.”

“Always thought that was weird." Cas shrugged. "But then, I guess he’s as important to you out here as he usually is in the dreams.”

“Yeah, Dean’s all the family I really have… I barely know my half-brother, and both my parents are gone. He’s my best friend. There were times where it felt like he was literally all I had.” And there were times, like now, where it seemed like Dean was all he'd ever have.

“That would certainly explain why he’s always there. I was starting to wonder.”

“I should go. See you tonight.” Sam got to his feet and turned away.

“Wait!” Castiel reached out and grabbed his arm. “We probably won’t remember meeting in the dreams, it would be incredibly out of place, but now that I know you’re real, I can’t just… let me see your phone?” Sam handed it over reluctantly. “There. Now you have my phone number. And email. And Twitter. And Facebook. And just for good measure my home address. Contact me. Please. Otherwise I’ll drive myself crazy trying to find you again.”

“Yeah. I’ll do that.” Sam turned and walked off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam puts off calling Castiel, but eventually does. In the meantime, the current dream plot continues.

“You’re an idiot.” Dean crossed his arms and gave Sam an unimpressed look. “A complete idiot. I don’t know that there are words to express how idiotic you are.”

“Doesn’t matter what happens in the dreams! This isn’t a dream, Dean. This is real. And out here, he said you’re hot.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “And made sure you had five different ways to contact him. He didn't say anything about sharing with me. If it were ever gonna be me, one of the dreams would’ve gone there, wouldn’t it?”

It made sense, and Sam knew it, but there was one huge flaw in Dean's logic. “This isn’t a dream!” Sam huffed. “He didn’t say I was hot.”

“Holy crap, you're an idiot." Dean stuck out a hand. "Give me your phone. I’ll call him and we can straighten this out. ‘Hey, Castiel, do you think Sam’s hot?’ ‘Of course I do. I have eyes. That work.’”

“No!" Dean would do it. Sam couldn't let him. But he also couldn't call Castiel today. He just couldn't. "I’ll call him. Tomorrow. Because I’m that pathetic that I’m going to help him get to you. That I’ll take it if he settles for me if he can’t have you. I just can’t do it today.”

 

That night’s dream picked up where it had left off, with Castiel holding a gun on Sam after capturing him, the most wanted desperado in the West. “Give me a reason, kid. Any reason. Any at all. Why shouldn’t I shoot?”

Sam looked up, cockiness radiating despite the gun to his head. “Because that’s what the bad guys do. The people like me. You’re too good for that. You’re gonna take me in and give me a trial, and then they can kill me all nice and proper like.”

“He’s got a point, boss,” Dean said. Dean was playing the sheriff’s deputy, who was secretly one of Sam’s gang.

Castiel didn't move the gun, but he nodded to Dean. "Tie his hands. Make sure he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeves." Dean did as instructed, then threw Sam over the saddle of his horse.

The thing with watching a jail cell: it's boring as hell. Castiel and Sam got talking. The more Sam talked, the more sympathetic Castiel became, until he was reaching through the bars to hold Sam’s hand.

And then the dream ended.

 

Sam called Castiel at lunchtime. “Hey. It’s Sam. How’s it going?”

There was relief in Castiel's voice. “Great, now. I’m so glad you called. I was worried. How are you?”

“I'm good. So, I checked with Dean, and yes, he is having the dreams too."

"Huh. I wonder why."

"Are you busy tonight? If not, we could meet up at The Rabbit Hole?” It was Sam's favorite bar, and Dean had agreed to it already.

“Sounds good to me. I’m looking forward to it. What do you think of this current dream?”

“Never was much of a fan of Westerns. You know Dean’s going to betray you, right? In the dream?”

“I know he’s working for you, but Sheriff Castiel doesn’t. Based on the way these things go, I suspect it won’t be that much of a betrayal, though. More of a wacky misunderstanding where we’re both trying to figure out how to spring you and you don’t want to take the risk that you haven’t turned me as much as you think you have so you don’t tell either of us that the other’s on your side.”

Sam had to laugh at that. That sounded about right to him. “Sorry. This one’s a little weird, I swear in real life Dean is the most loyal guy you’ve ever met. He wouldn’t do something like that.”

“He's loyal in the dream. To you. He’s just using me to protect you, which I can hardly fault him for. I’m more interested in why you’re playing a bad guy in this one. I mean, obviously, you’re a bad guy with a heart of gold, because you’re going to win over the sheriff and the two of us are going to run away together, but…”

“I was the pirate, too, remember? So it’s not like me not being good is unprecedented.”

“True." There was some noise on the other end of the line, and Castiel sighed. "I have to go. Rabbit Hole tonight? What time?”

“8ish? Dean gets off work at 7, so that’ll give him time to clean up a bit before we meet up.”

“Sounds good. See you then.”


	3. Meetup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam introduces Cas and Dean and they kick around thoughts about their shared dreams.

Sam and Dean walked in a few minutes early, but Castiel was already there. Sam led Dean over. “Cas, meet my brother Dean. Dean, this is Cas. What’s everyone drinking?”

“Beer. You know what I like. Cas?”

“I have a drink. Vodka.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Just vodka? Nothing mixed in?”

Cas shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, it is flavored. I think this one’s orange, but I usually tell the bartender to surprise me if they have flavored vodka.”

“Okay. Back with another round soon.” Sam took off, keeping an eye on the table. Dean and Cas seemed to be getting along pretty well.

When he got back, Dean was apologizing. Cas blew it off. “I know the betrayal’s coming, Dean. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

Sam handed out drinks. “You’re looking forward to the knife in your back?”

“Yes. Once that’s done, the three of us will be on the same side, and we can actually work together. Of course, not long after, we’ll probably start a new narrative. Once you’re free and I’m on your side, there’s not just a whole lot left in this one.”

Dean laughed. “Yeah, I guess not. One thing I am very grateful for, either the dreams kick me out or fade to black before you two bang each other."

Cas chuckled, but Sam buried his face in his hands and changed the subject. "So what do you do in real life, Cas?”

“I’m a corporate accountant. It may sound dull, compared to a Western sheriff or a firefighter, but I quite enjoy wrangling numbers and making them do as they’re supposed to. What about you two?”

“I’m a clerk at the county courthouse, and Dean’s a mechanic.” Sam took a big drink of beer. “Next year I’m going to be trying to start actually working as a lawyer, but the clerkship’s good experience for now.”

Castiel grinned. “You know, you being a lawyer sets up the perfect joke for why you get cast as the not-exactly-good guy in these redemption or corruption stories.”

Dean cackled, and Sam covered his face. “Good to know you two amuse each other. Dean’s been telling me that ever since that one where I was the abomination.”

“Hey, I’m just saying." Cas shrugged and offered an apologetic smile. "It also explains why I get cast as the mild-mannered victim so often, whether I’m your victim or you’re rescuing me. I’m an accountant. What am I going to do, destroy people with my mental math skills?”

Dean’s cackling increased, and Sam had to chuckle a little. “When you get the chance, you sure seem pretty badass in the dreams. Like this sheriff.”

“Yeah, I know." Cas pushed his drink aside and leaned on the table. "Serious question time, though: why are the three of us sharing dreams? How? Have either of you ever heard of anything like this?”

Both of them shook their heads. “No idea. You?” Sam asked.

Cas shook his head too. “Not credible. I spent most of yesterday evening on the Internet googling it, and all that ever came up was stuff about dream traveling or shared souls or memories of past lives. Which, if it were just Sam and me involved, maybe, but with Dean involved as well…”

“That does seem unlikely. Dream traveling… what does that even mean?” Dean asked.

“It means that the traveler is projecting his mind into the mind of the person whose dreams he’s entering. Given there are three of us…”

Sam huffed. “Yeah, that’s probably not the right answer. Do you remember when this started?”

Castiel shook his head. “I wish I did. It’s been several months, I know that, but it’s not like that first night I had any reason to think much of the dreams. Aside from a brief wish that you were real.”

“I think they started in May. A few days after your birthday.” Dean took a sip of beer. “Never wished I was real?”

“No. Nothing personal, just you’re not the one who keeps sweeping me off my feet. Until Sam told me who you were, I hadn’t really realized you were in every single dream too.”

Dean’s smirk was triumphant, but Sam wasn’t so sure he was wrong. “What do we do about them?”

“Well, I’m kind of assuming our dreams are trying to tell us something. I’m not entirely sure where Dean fits in, but I’m certainly eager to find out our real love story.”

“You… you are?”

Cas squinted quizzically. “You’re not?”

“No, I am. I really am. I just…" Sam sank a little in his seat. Dean was never going to let him forget this. "You said Dean was hot…”

“He is hot. What’s that got to do with anything?”

Dean laughed. “Sam thought you were gonna go for me. Which, in all fairness, people _have_ done to him before.”

Cas blinked a few times. “I can’t imagine it was ever successful. One of the constants in our dream stories is your deep loyalty to Sam, and if someone used him like that you wouldn’t want anything to do with them.”

“Yeah, well…” Dean rubbed his neck. “I wasn’t always the awesome guy I am now. In my defense, I had no idea Irene’s real name was Rachel and she was dating my brother and had faked a headache to get away early after prom, but I did sleep with his prom date. On prom night.”

“Took a really long time for me to forgive him for that one,” Sam added.

“That’s horrible.” Castiel reached over and took Sam’s hand. “Not one dream has ever involved any kind of feelings for Dean, even unexpressed ones. Even that one where I’m an angel, and we meet after I’ve pulled Dean out of Hell… that would have been the time. No matter what else changes, I fall for you, and Dean is our friend and our brother. Why should that be different just because this time, it’s real?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay on this! Summer changing to fall has a tendency to muck with my brain, and I've been fighting harder than usual against stupid depression issues.


	4. Waking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam, Dean, and Cas uncover the cause of the shared dreams.

Sam woke up with his alarm clock beeping. He was still groggy as he got up and headed for the kitchen, but he had work to do. Even after all this time in the Bunker, he still had no idea half of what they had. They were taking some time off after Dean’s latest brush with death, so Sam was determined to make some headway on the storage room full of boxes.

“Mornin’. What are you doing up so early?” Dean stood by the coffee machine, skin still horribly discolored from the bruises and pale from blood loss. Still, he looked reasonably healthy, and it was good to see him this cheerful.

Still, Sam was a little brother. He rolled his eyes. “Remind me, which of us nearly died? You’re the one who should still be in bed.”

“Oh, shut up. Weirdass dreams, couldn’t sleep. There’s not something you’ve been meaning to tell me, is there?”

Sam froze. “Weird dreams? How do you mean?”

“I mean, I was dreaming that you and me and Cas were having a series of shared dreams. Look, if you and Cas are hooking up, you know the only thing I’m gonna give you crap for is not telling me, right? I know you want the whole long-term settle down thing, but in a way that works with hunting, and Cas seems like a pretty good answer. And hell, recent flaking out aside, he’s someone I can trust to look after you.”

“That’s… okay, for starters, I’m not involved with Cas. Although I guess thanks for the endorsement?” Dreams and wishes didn’t make it true. And Dean didn’t need to know about Sam’s hopeless dreams. “These dreams. I think… I had dreams like that too. The three of us were sharing dreams for months, and then I randomly run into Cas getting coffee?”

Dean stopped pouring his coffee and turned to stare at Sam. “Yeah, actually. How’d you guess?”

“It wasn’t a guess. I had the same dream.”

Dean shivered. “Okay. Djinn? Dream root? Pagan god?”

“Trickster.”

Both Winchesters jumped. Neither had heard Cas come in. “Where have you been?” Dean demanded.

Castiel came over and healed Dean's bruises. “Chuck’s been busy in his exile. He brought back Raphael and Gabriel, got Michael from the Cage, and tracked down Lucifer. The four of them are, essentially, grounded until they learn to get along and not derail the world for their own amusement.”

“What, he didn’t ground you, too, did he?” Sam said.

“Not exactly.” Castiel sighed. “He believed that one of them was ready to be released, and called me to…” He trailed off and shook his head. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but I’m Gabriel’s parole officer.”

Dean snorted. “Yeah, that does sound ridiculous. So where’s Gabe?”

“Norway. He rather likes it there. I’m to monitor his activity and report in if he gets out of control, but his usual tricks are not considered a problem. After all, he’s no worse than your ordinary Trickster, aside from not actually dying the way he’s supposed to.”

“Wow. Can you do that from here, or do you have to leave?” Sam hoped Castiel could stay, but with his wings...

“I have a monitoring system I can set up wherever I wish, and perhaps more importantly, God fixed my wings so I can intervene if necessary. I spent the last couple days catching Gabriel up on everything, taking him to Heaven to see what’s happening there. And then…” Cas rolled his eyes. “Gabriel was convinced that I’m in love with Dean and decided to set up one of his elaborate fantasies to force me to realize it. I wasn’t entirely sure if you two were actually there or just part of the trick, but those dreams weren’t dreams. They were Gabriel.”

Dean snorted. “That starting up in Heaven again? I thought we’d finally gotten those birdbrains to realize it wasn’t happening.”

“Yes, well, Gabriel’s been a bit out of it the last few years. I’m fairly certain the results of Gabriel’s prank will keep the rumors from restarting.”

“Or they’ll start up again, just not about me.” Dean gestured with his coffee mug toward Sam. “That part of Gabriel’s trick, or real?”

Sam held his breath while Castiel took his time answering. “I have no idea what’s true for Sam, but since the whole point of Gabriel’s exercise was to force me to confront my feelings, it seems silly to try to deny things now. For all I know it may throw all three of us back into the dream world.”

“Some parole officer you are.” Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam. “I’m out of here. You two don’t need an audience, even a friendly one.”

When Dean was gone, Sam took a couple of deep breaths. “You’re sure this isn’t some part of Gabriel messing with you?”

Castiel nodded. “Gabriel didn’t show me anything about myself I didn’t already suspect.”

“Good.” Sam pulled Castiel into a hug. When he let go, he laughed as a thought struck him. “I swear, if we wake up from this one to a world where we’re not together, I’m going to lose it. That was actually me in there, and I don’t know if Gabriel would have done it anyway or if your dreams would have been unrequited, but me falling for you over and over… that was based on how I feel out here. I love you, Cas.”

“Why?”

“I could ask you the same thing. You and me… you told me once that there’s exactly one person who screws up as consistently and thoroughly as I do. You. The crap we’ve been through, the things we’ve done… Dean might be starting to understand some of it, thanks to the Mark of Cain business, but there’s still so much that even he can’t really understand the way we do. And yet, despite everything I’ve done, you still see me as some sort of hero. I don’t think I am, but you make me want to believe in it. You help me always keep fighting for it. Despite everything you’ve done, I’ll never see you as anything but the one angel who’s lived up to what I believed in for so long. Broken wings, human, even when you were God… you’re my angel.”

“Which is a lot to live up to, but when I was dying… your faith in me is what kept me getting out of bed and trying to help. I see what you mean.” Cas stepped close to Sam, holding him close. “I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments give writers good (and inspirational) dreams!


End file.
